Quick Summary

A decent BCAA product from a reputable company but it's geared more toward the "average" gym goer in my opinion or could be better for women.

Introduction

Hi all! I don't think I ever would have bought this on my own just because there are so many others I prefer but my wife bought this and didn't like the flavor so she gave it to me. I just finished a 30 serving tub (utilizing it mostly as a quick pick me up or for non overwhelming energy, see more below). So, here are my thoughts.... Enjoy!

Ingredient Profile

Not a bad amino profile. It pretty much as all the classics - Taurine, Leucine, Beta Alanine, Valine, Tyrosine, just to name a few. My first issue with this "Amino blend" is that it's a non-disclosed BLEND. They tell us there's 5 grams of aminos but we really don't know how much of everything we are getting. Also, I feel like overall, for an amino product, the total amount of aminos is a little low. I'm usually looking for more like the 6-7 gram range.

Next is the "Energy blend" which has a whopping 160 MG of caffeine (as well as some green tea extract). I'm sorry but for an "energy" product there needs to be more caffeine per serving. Otherwise, you're using too many scoops to get the desired energy effects.

Now, the tub says there's 30 servings in there and each serving is 9 grams (2 scoops), so it begs the question, if their "energy blend" is only 160 MG, and the amino blend is 5 g what else makes up the 9 grams?
The answer it appears is flavoring/"other ingredients" such as Malic acid, natural and artificial flavors, citric acid, sucralose, "gum blend".... Ok you get the idea.

Taste/Mixability/Dosing

So, I ran the watermelon flavor. It wasn't terrible. It did surprisingly have an actual watermelon taste and not an artificial taste to it. As I mentioned above, each serving is 9 grams (2 scoops) and there are 30 servings in the tub. For me to get effects I was looking for, I found myself taking 3 to 4 scoops.
I thought this product mixed quite well actually. In a shaker bottle, it mixed smooth with a little bit of foaminess but little to no residual on the sides or bottom of the bottle. Even mixing it in a glass with a spoon, I found that mixed consistently.

Effectiveness

I actually took this product to work and used it in the afternoons as a quick energizer or for a pick me up. Again as I mentioned though, it took several scoops for me to feel energy. When I did though, it was nice. Smooth, and not too jittery or tingly. I felt more alert and could make it through the afternoons with relative ease and that's what I was using it for so in that regard, it was very effective.
However, as other reviewers have pointed out, this would not be effective as a pre-workout, in my opinion. While it does have a decent amino profile you look for in a PWO, the caffeine level is simply too low for most regular PWO users.

It could be used as an intraworkout product if you've already taken a PWO. I think that might be ok.

Value

The cheapest I've seen this is like $16 for 30 servings, from Allstar Health. That's a little over $.50 per serving and on the surface that seems like outstanding value. But if you are like me and you find yourself taking multiple servings per drink or shake, then the value decreases immensely.
With this product, the way you plan to use it determines the value. If you use it for some extra energy at work or for a light workout or just to go about your day, I think it is a great value. If you're using it as a pre-workout or an intraworkout, there are many other better options at a relatively similar price per serving.

Side Effects

None

Conclusion

A good amino product geared toward beginners or "average" gym goers from a reliable company. If they reformulate this I think they need to add a little more caffeine and bump up that amino profile more towards the 6-7 gram range. I'm a fan of ON but this isn't or shouldn't be one of their flagship products. If you do what I did and just keep this at your desk at work and use when needed for a boost, it's solid, and is what I believe it is for more than anything else.
Thanks folks!

Quick Summary

Amino acids have been soaring in popularity over the last decade. Energy, Stimulant, Nootropic pick me up products have recently become the next big hit over the recent years. So why not put them both together and see what happens

Introduction

Optimum Nutrition, A staple company in the industry for years on end. ON is one of the few brands known by lifters and non lifters alike. ON has always held a reputation for bringing out quality products and great taste. With the sudden popularity of energy and stimulants ON has brought forth their version of a "Pick me Up" drink that can be sipped throughout the day with the benefit of Essential Amino Acids to help with muscle recovery, focus and energy.

Ingredient Profile

Each serving size is 2 scoops (9grams)
When you break down the 9gram serving there are 57% active ingredients listed below and 43% colors, additions and artificial flavors. On paper 57% actives are quite low for an Amino Acid supplement, I like to see the actives at least 70-80% but on the flip side you can expect a great tasting drink.

Taste/Mixability/Dosing

Taste: Dont expect anything less then what you are used to with ON, the flavors are good and with the wide range of available flavors including their cafe series you will easily find one you love.
Mixability: all the active ingredients are micronized, there will be little to no trouble having this dissolve in water, i have been able to mix this simply with a spoon without too much vigor so a Shaker bottle is not necessarily needed.
Dosing: This is where i tend to have the largest concerns. The 5g of Aminos are under a proprietary blend so we cant know exactly what doses we are getting of any amino. So at first glance i would have to assume that this is a little under dosed.

Effectiveness

This area took me a while to wrap my head around. Please understand that the Proprietary blending is not inherently wrong and until just a few years ago the majority of supplements were prop blends but without knowing the exact doses I am a little confused at what I can use this product for.
As a pre-workout there are too many ingredients missing and you dont know the ratio of stimulants you're getting
As an Amino supplement it is hard to determine if there are enough active ingredients to support Muscle recovery, protein synthesis or endurance.
What i will say though is that as a general "pick me up" it is great, This is obviously dependent on each individuals caffeine tolerance, but having it in the morning or when the mid day blues kick in, it works just fine with giving you a subtle kick of energy. I enjoy the cafe series and add 1 or 2 scoops to my morning coffee instead of any sweeteners or creamers.
With the above said though I do not look to This product as my daily EAA supplement so the 5 grams are irrelevant, i use this strictly as a pick me up.

Value

Now Value is why this product is not rated as low as my review might suggest it should be.
ON EA Energy ranges from $14.99 - $26.99 here in the Canadian market, Also depending on how much caffeine you want and knowing that this may not be the ideal Amino Acid supplement then 1 or 2 scoop servings are fine. At the labelled 2 scoop serving and if i take the mid level price listed ($19.99) you are at $0.33cents per 1 scoop serve or $0.66cents per 2 scoop serve.
This is extremely cheap for either a caffeine or Amino source.

Side Effects

Nothing bothered my here. The Caffeine wasnt so high that i needed a buffer or ingredients to keep the risk of crashing away.

Conclusion

The Product for me is fine as long as you know what you are using it for. Personally The Aminos are not the primary use. I use this strictly as a subtle and great tasting caffeine source that isnt too high that could result in sweats or jitters. It is just enough, similar to a daily or morning coffee and cheaper than a cup of coffee too.

Quick Summary

While Amino Energy tasted really good regardless of what flavor you get, mixed well, and does include a decent amino blend, this did not help as an energizing pre-workout.

Introduction

Amino Energy was the first PWO I had taken after a friend had introduced it to me, and upon trying other PWOs (and once again retrying Amino Energy later on), I was not too impressed. It may be good for those who are sensitive to stims and hate the jittery feeling, but it did not have strong stimulants.

Ingredient Profile

Amino Energy's amino blend is decent; it includes 5 grams of the beneficial ingredients such as taurine, glutamine, leucine, arginine, and more. However, the label is vague and does not provide exact amounts, and 5 grams for all of those ingredients is simply not enough in my opinion.
The weakest portion of its ingredient profile is its energy aspect. It only contains 100 mg of caffeine for per serving. At best, 100 mg can serve as a little pick-me-up in the morning. If you were intending to use this as a PWO, most people would need 4+ scoops.
It does not contain many of the common ingredients, such as beta alanine, citrulline malate, betaine anhydrous, etc.

Taste/Mixability/Dosing

Its taste and mixability is stellar. Out of the many PWOs that I've tasted, this has to be one of the best, which isn't a surprise considering ON's reputation as a well-established company. I have tried watermelon and concord grape which have both tasted exactly as labelled. It also mixes better than any of the other PWOs that I've seen.
In terms of dosage, like I said earlier, I needed 4-6 scoops for it to be effective. Of course, it depends on the person and intended usage, but the blend simply is not powerful enough for me.

Effectiveness

This product could do well if it is stocked along with stronger PWOs. I know through personal experience and through friends that sometimes, you do not feel like taking the same, stimulant-heavy pre workout every training day, so this could be helpful for deloading days/lighter intensities. Overall, however, it would only be effective for consumers who are looking for really mild stims, or upon waking up like I have tried.

Value

Amino Energy may appear to be cheap on the outside, as you can find it for as low as $0.60 per serving or so on some sites. However, keep in mind that you may need to use multiple servings just to use it as an energizing PWO, and even then, it is missing some helpful ingredients. Most of the money is being invested for the amino blend, which is quite pricey considering that there isn't too much else put into the formula.

Side Effects

None.

Conclusion

Overall, this product is not too effective as a PWO, but can be used for other purposes if you are looking for a decent amino formula.
I did, however, enjoy the fact that it feels like a super clean, mild formula that I could rely on for days that I really did not feel like going hard in the gym. I didn't have to worry about getting jittery, ruin my sleep, etc. I'll still be an ON customer, but I do not think that I will be buying this product again.

Introduction

This product I happened to purchase at Costco. I seen they were selling this stuff again and figured I would give it a try. In the past I just had a few samples of it but never a full container of it. I am starting to become a big fan of amino's with energy in them. I like them mainly because I am not a coffee drinker in the mornings and like to use this as my replacement for coffee. I like that I can get some energy from this and also get the amino's for some extra recovery.

Ingredient Profile

The biggest thing I don't like about the ingredient profile is the big prop blends they use. I really want to be able to know what all I am getting and how much of each ingredient. I will say they do have a lot of good stuff in here that they use but with the total amounts they show really tells me a lot of the stuff is really under dosed which is to too bad. It would be nice to know just how much I am getting from just the aminos themselves since they are listed in a big prop blend with a lot of others stuff at 5g total.

Taste/Mixability/Dosing

Blueberry Lemonade is the only flavor they have at Costco when I got this. I have to say that it was pretty good. Maybe just a little sweeter than I would have liked but nothing I was to worried about. It does have that nice mix of blueberry and lemonade flavor. I would have liked a little stronger blueberry flavor to help tone down the lemonade part a little.

Mixing was no problem at all. Mixed fairly well. Maybe just a little bit of sediment on the sides of your shaker cup but nothing to bad. Dosing is where this will vary a little. Depending on if you want more caffeine or amino then you will need to add more scoops. It says on the label that 2 scoops is one serving. I found that I needed at least 3 scoops each time since a lot of the stuff in this is rather under dosed and to make it a little more effective I needed the extra scoop for sure.

Effectiveness

Like I said above I am not a coffee drinker in the mornings and like to use amino products with caffeine as my replacement for coffee. At two scoops you are getting 100mg of caffeine. For me that is not enough caffeine to really notice much and that is why I went with three scoops. I figure with three scoops I was getting around 150mg or so of caffeine. I like a decent amount of caffeine in the mornings but don't want to over do it since later in the afternoon I would be consuming around 300-350mg from my regular pre-workout. The energy I got from this was nothing real crazy like but enough to know I was feeling something. I could have done another scoop or so if I really wanted to be able to notice it a lot more but I did not want to start feeling it to much in the mornings. I wanted just enough energy to feel it was there and help me feel a little more awake and alert. This for sure has more of a clean like energy to it. My overall recovery was a little better I thought. I know later in the afternoon I would usually feel a little better from the extra aminos I was getting in the morning. If they were to up the dosage a bit more (which I would like to see them do) I know it would have been even a little better on recovery for me. I look at products like this as more of a bonus for me to have so I can get a little energy in me from the caffeine in the mornings and get some extra aminos in me for recovery even thought I take my regular aminos during my work later in the afternoon.

I also think these are a nice replacement for a lot of energy drinks out there. For me I used this mainly in the mornings but could very easily use this anytime during the day I needed a little extra energy instead of having to use an energy drink that is usually loaded with a lot of sugars and other junk I don't need or want. This could also be used as a post workout product if you want but I think going with a protein shake would be a lot better.

This seemed to be really good on my stomach and never caused me any unwanted stomach issues. Its not real heavy to drink and won't make you feel all bloated from drinking it. I think this can be a really effective product but you then need to really load up the number of scoops you are using (5-6 scoops) and the two problems I have with doing that is you then get a lot of extra caffeine you don't want and you go through the container way to fast and it's gets expensive having to keep buying this all the time.

Value

At Costco they wanted $29.49 for 62 servings. I think that is a fairly decent price for this size container if you can get by with only using 2 scoops. For me I was using 3 scoops each time and if you are doing more than the recommend 2 scoops them the value starts to drop a bit. They say to use 2-4 scoops.

Side Effects

Nothing I noticed.

Conclusion

Overall I think this is a decent product. Nothing about this product really amazed me in terms of effectiveness but did enjoy it. If they could do away with the big prop blends and fully dose everything and tell you what's all in here would really help a lot. I would like to see the amount of caffeine at 2 scoops (which they say is one serving) upped a bit. I think products like this are good as a replacement for energy drinks and can be used pretty much anytime you need a little pick me up or some extra recovery. I would be happy to use this again if I can get a good deal on it but using it all the time I probably would not.

This is my 1st review so a little bit about myself. I'm currently 29yrs old, been lifting for 11 years. My friend referred me to this site a while back while looking for a new pre-workout. My fitness goals have changed over the years, but for now I am trying to get down to around 200lbs with 15% body fat. I'm currently at 219lbs with 25-30% body fat while standing 6'00".

Amino Energy has only 5g of amino's per serving, so it's not the biggest of best amino product on the market. But this is not just an amino mix, this is a multi-purpose product that should be used with or in addition to other products such as a true BCAA mix, pre-workout, etc....If you are looking for a true BCAA mix, you can find other products out on the market with a better profile. With 160mg of energy coming from Green Tea and Green Coffee per serving, it definitely aids in giving me an extra boost or quick pick-me up. I also use this to re-hydrate in place of water or Gatorade once during the day, which also helps with some recovery. So if you're looking for extra energy and/or extra amino's then this is for you.

TASTE: 10/10
Amino Energy is one of the best tasting amino/energy drinks I have tried. I typically drink this early in the morning before a Crossfit class (4:30 a.m.), so I want it to be something that is not too overpowering and make me nauseaus. I do occasionally take this along with a pre-workout to give me an extra boost. Below are the two flavors i have tried:

Grape: 10 - Tastes just like grape kool-aid. This is by far my go to. Grape is the reason I'm rating this as a 10. I haven't tried anymore flavors yet, simply because the Grape tastes so good.

Mixability:10
This stuff is so easy to mix. You can basically pour into your shaker or glass and it mix itself almost. An easy stir or shake and you are ready to go.

EFFECTIVENESS: 9/10
For what I use this for, it works very well. If I need a little energy boost before a run or just working outside, I can take this and it gives me the boost I need to get the job done. With two little kids, i typically don't have time to take a nap. Sometimes i have taken this with my pre-workout just to give an extra boost without doubling up on my pre and gives me just enough extra boost that I need to keep me focused and moving on my workout.

VALUE: 8/10
I typically only take 1-2 scoops, so a tub will last me quite a while. I also only buy when their is a deal going on, so I only pay around $16. Which is about 1/2 of what some other similar products will cost me.

Side Effects:
I have not actually had any negative side effects with this product, which is again why it is one of my favorites.

OVERALL: 8/10
Amino Energy is one of my favorite amino/energy drinks to take. It works for exactly what I need it for, and with the price point and longevity the tub last me, I can not find a better deal.

Introduction

I've gone through phases with my lifting and how I push to get an edge. When I was younger I'd put anything in my body with little concern of what it was really doing, so long as it worked. Today, I'm more careful. I want to understand the ingredients and how they interact, and this stuff fits well into my overall stack, more for what it *doesn't* have in it than what it does.

Ingredient Profile

Caffeine: 50mg per scoop, extracted from green tea
Amino Blend: The leading two ingredients in the blend are taurine and glutamine, followed by the more common PWO staples like arginine at 3rd and beta alanine (CarnoSyn) at 5th, and with leucine in between. It's a long list of aminos altogether, with just about everything you have ever heard of there. Unfortunately, they don't tell you exact amounts of each. The blend doesn't provide much for pumps as you'd expect from Arginine, and there are no tingling sensations from the beta alanine. I know that 500mg of beta alanine will cause tingling for me, and I feel none of that when I drink this, so assume there is less than that.

I needed to add taurine and glutamine to my diet for the effects they have on cramping/pumps (taurine) and joint support (glutamine), so this is a perfect line up for me.

Preworkout I take Agmatine, Beta Alanine, Citrulline Mallate and Pine Bark Extract as standalone ingredients, so having those be the less represented in this product is OK. I'd rather know exactly how much of each I'm taking in since too much can lead to an opposite reaction due to a decrease in blood pressure.

Does not contain Aspartame.

Taste/Mixability/Dosing

Most people love the taste and I can understand why. It is very sweet and there isn't any artificial taste that lingers. It mixes well, but needs to be shaken or stirred continually to avoid settling at the bottom. My wife loves this stuff too, but she'll sip on it forever and by the end she has to deal with the aminos all settled at the bottom-- those are pretty bitter on their own.
Orange Cooler- tastes exactly like tang
Blueberry Mojito- This is my favorite. It reminds me of the Gatorade Frost flavors.
These all taste like liquified bubblicious bubble gum (not in a bad way):
- green apple
- blue raspberry
- pineapple

Effectiveness

It wakes you up, helps you get back to work when days at a desk are dragging on, tastes good, and can help you get out the door to the gym if you aren't feeling motivated. I wouldn't rely on this for providing any sort of pumps, increased vascularity, etc. The effects in that regard are minimal, but if you just want a glorified energy drink without the sugar that you get in redbull or monster, this is a good choice. (This is sweetened with sucralose)

Value

I usually order from Amazon and prices range from $16.50 - $20.00. With my wife and I both taking this it runs out in about a week when you buy the normal sized container. That's a drawback, but if it keeps her out of starbucks (which it does) we're still saving money.

Side Effects

none

Conclusion

Buy it for what it is and expect nothing else. This isn't going to change the game, but it can get you in the gym on days when you need a little motivation. It is ok to take a night if you aren't sensitive to caffeine. Definitely try it if you are a frequent coffee or energy drinker. Those things can kill your pumps and leave you dehydrated. This will give you the same benefits as those without the negative side effects.

AMIN.O. ENERGY: The facts and my experience with it.

Introduction

(About yourself, 1-3 sentences maximum)
Trey here. I am a 22 year old dude trying to live healthy and get big. Planning to play college sports. To quote Vince Lombardi: "Think of only three things: your God, your family and the Green Bay Packers-in that order."

Taste/Mixability/Dosing

I have tried this in watermelon and in fruitpunch and I must say that the taste of these products are impressive. No bitter after taste what so ever. It also mixes well. Although, I recomend shaking up the container before opening as it tends to settle. Doing so will ensure it is thoroughly mixed. As far as dosage goes, this product has multiple dosage based on your needs.

For every day use, I honestly shoot in the middle and use 3 scoops. But for a workout I go the whole 6 scoops.

Effectiveness

As far as effectiveness of the product, I must say I really enjoy this one. It certainly provides me the boost I need. I work at a FitWords gym and often times recommend it to my customers who are looking for something that will give them solid energy without making them all jittery. Depending on how much you take, you may feel a slight tingle, but its very minor. Another nice thing is the amino acids. I really like that I can get BCAAs in me prior to my workout and not have to drink to seperate drinks -a BCAA drink and a pre-workout- to do this. This alone makes it very convenient. While it seems to suggest a big N.O. pump (having Citrulline and Arginine), I can't say that it showed itself big in this regards.

Value

As far as value goes, I would say it honestly depends where you buy it. Expect to pay about $.85 to $1 per serving at most retailers. However, Costco carries the 62 serving container for $29.49 in comparison to GNC which will charge you $52.99 for the same product.

Side Effects

Other than a possible slight tingle sensation, I haven't found there to be any.

Conclusion

As said before, I do really enjoy this product and would, and often do, highly recommend it. While it doesn't seem strong in regards to a N.O. booster, it does offer a good BCAA profile as well as good amount of energy. Over all , this supplement is a winner in my book.

Introduction

Hey Guys, just would like to preface that this is my 2nd review so I'm still trying and would appreciate any feedback and suggestions to make this as best I can - thanks!

I'm currently studying for the Bar Exam and workout 6 days a week either running 2-3 miles or CrossFit. I initially purchased this product toward the end of last year as I was curious to it's effectiveness in relieving muscle aches, muscle recovery, and to see if it would help ease shin splints.

Also provides a nice little kick by including an Energy Blend of Green Tea Extract and Green Coffee Extract.

Typically I don't care for "proprietary blends" in my supps, but this is pretty straightforward and I am comfortable with it.

Taste/Mixability/Dosing

Taste:

Pineapple is my favorite, tastes amazing!
Strawberry Lime is also pretty tasty, but can be a little bitter sweet (shocking, I know w/ strawberry & lime!)Watermelon is pretty good, but can get also too sweet real quick - really tastes like a Watermelon Jolly Rancher!

Mixability:

It's mixes pretty well with water and a spoon in a glass-glass, as opposed to a Solo-Cup, it sticks to the plastic and can be a minor pain in the ass in a Solo Cup just and FYI. It's better in a regular water bottle or shaker. The powder is also very light weight and there are times when I've added water it just poofs out of the glass, not all of it, but a little bit - nothing to female dog about, but just what I noticed.

Dosage:

It has a standard 2 scoop serving of 5 grams of AA's and 100mg of caffeine. It does also put the profile for 4 & 6 scoops which obviously just double or triple up the profile.

Effectiveness

So I am going to rate this on three uses and depending on what your use is, maybe this is effective for you. First as an Amino Acid, an Energy Drink or Coffee substitute, and a PWO because it's under that category.

As an Amino Acid, I think the serving size of 5 grams is too low to be effective in supporting muscle recovery. I did notice a difference in reduction of my shin splints, however I doubled up on the serving size to total 10 grams and it did help.

Also, as I mentioned earlier I'm studying for the Bar Exam and averaging 10-12 hrs a day studying. So, I was drinking 23 energy drinks a day. It was gross - I felt gross, sweaty palms, irritable, agitated and you get the picture. I decided to just start mixing in about 6 scoops in a 32oz bottle and have been substituting it for energy drinks and drink one or two of those throughout the day. It's a great pick me up and really helps with maintaining focus.

As a PWO, in my opinion -- no way. It's lacking ingredients like creatine and many others that are in every other PWO out there. I don't think this is being advertised as a PWO but I see it categorized this way time and time again. It's not a PWO, it's a Amino Acid supplement w/ some caffeine - that's all.

Value

As an Amino Acid supplement, I don't think it's a good value. It's only $18-20 but that's right around the cost of Amino X which I believe to be a better value because it's almost twice as much product in the container, has more AA's per serving, and a only one scoop serving size as opposed to two. With a 30 serving container at this price and then doubling or tripling your serving size just does not make sense with other products packing more into a smaller serving size

As an Energy Drink/Coffee substitute, I see the value the here for sure. Monsters or Red Bull, whatever you might drink are $2-$4 a piece. So if you're looking for a nice pick-me-up drink, with some great benefits of added AA's - this makes sense! And this is why I still purchase this product.

As a PWO because it's in this category. I don't agree with it being categorized under a PWO but I suppose some people might use it that way b/c of the caffeine. I mean if you're a novice and sensitive to caffeine, it might do it for you, but there is no way that I can support using it as a PWO.

Side Effects

I haven't had any negative effects. The caffeine might keep you up if you take it too late in the day but that goes with any supplement containing caffeine.

Conclusion

In conclusion, you can see that this has multiple applications and depending on what you're looking for it could be a solid choice. As primarily a substitute to coffee or energy drinks, it's a great - it's low calories compared to those drink options, not loaded with a bunch of poo like they are, and really packs a punch if you double or triple up the servings (as the label even shows the caffeine profile for 2-4-6 scoops) - which is nice!

However, in my opinion just using this strictly as an Amino Acid supplement (without doubling up on serving size) or as PWO there are way better options.

Introduction

(About yourself, 1-3 sentences maximum)
Hey everyone! Just working on some more review and figured I would work on one that has held a pretty fair base in my supplements for years now. I started using this when I first started lifting and graduated to stronger PWO's pretty quickly. Although, this product has held its place in my cycles for various uses and reasons that I feel i should review on.

Ingredient Profile

Well, here in the ingredients profile its pretty basic. With a lot of AA's packed into such a small amount, whose individual amounts is not given, its of course hard to get a lot of benefit from this small amount. Easy solution is to take two or three servings, given you are not too overly sensitive to stims. Personally I feel that the amino profile proves to be great in the recovery aspect when taken in a high enough level. This will have to be determined by the user of course. I see no issues with the energy blend, but this is also someone who can handle a lot of stims. I definitely like the fact that it is derived from green tea and green coffee. This seems to give a very clean energy and not one that has you "stimmed out" and all jittery.

Taste/Mixability/Dosing

Optimum Nutrition basically has this area down pat and on point. Whether it is the grape, watermelon, fruit punch, or orange cooler you cannot go wrong (these are the flavors I've tried). The flavors are spot on and taste like any other fruit drink that isn't a supplement like raspberry ice or whatever comes to mind really. As far as mixability, there are zero clumps or flakes floating around. The powder completely dissolves into the water and is especially smooth. Dosing is an area that is up to the consumer in a big way. It's one of the few supplements where the company almost says "take however much as you see fit". Of course, don't go taking the whole container, but its within the realm of possibility to take just one serving or maybe even four from what I have seen some take. Personally, it really depends on the exact reason for usage. When taken for a PWO, multiple servings are probably needed. If just taken for a slight perk or for the amino benefits though, I have found that one or two servings will probably do. It can be seen as a great or negative thing that the product is so flexible in dosing, depending on if you are willing to take the time to play with it yourself.

Effectiveness

Again, this is another area that really depends upon the exact reason for usage of the product. I know many people that use this as a PWO much like I did at first. This does not seem to be a very good PWO though personally. Now this is in regards to a heavy or intense lifting session. In regards to cardio, it really does seem like a pretty effective PWO if just using it for a light cardio day, which is one way that I use it myself quite regularly. It doesn't seem to give me the big kick and focus that I like to get from a PWO, but just gives some nice clean energy and can act as a good pick me up on days you can be really dragging and lacking energy. Another usage I have found for this is to randomly insert it into my regiment when my workouts have me feeling especially sore and worn down. I have found that when normal recovery efforts and everything else aren't cutting it, I will throw a serving in twice a day and that will usually give me a little boost on my recovery efforts.

Value

Optimum Nutrition has always been really good when it comes to the value of their products. This isn't something that can really be argued considering what you get. At full price it isn't the cheapest, but given the fact that this is something that is almost always on sale somewhere at any given time, it makes it a really affordable product.

Conclusion

Although not for me, I can see where this is an effective PWO for some people, especially those sensitive to stims. I really enjoy using it for the recovery aspect that it gives me when needed. It does exactly what I want it to do. It lasts me a long time most of the time since I don's use it daily anymore, so is a very affordable product for me. And with some of the best flavors on the market, I can call it a definite win win.

Introduction

This is my 1st review so a little bit about myself. I'm currently 30yrs old, been lifting for 11 years. My friend referred me to this site a while back while looking for a new pre-workout (will post review on Fully Loaded Amplified Energy as well). My fitness goals have changed over the years, but for now I am trying to stay around 175lbs with 5-6% body fat. I'm currently at 172lbs with 9-10% body fat while standing 5'10".

Amino Energy has only 5g of amino's per serving, so it's not the most stacked product on the market. But this is not just an amino mix, this is a multi-purpose product that should be used with or in addition to other products such as a true BCAA mix, pre-workout, etc....If you are looking for a true BCAA mix, you can find other products out on the market with a better profile. With 160mg of energy coming from Green Tea and Green Coffee per serving, it definitely aids in giving me an extra boost or quick pick-me up. I also use this to re-hydrate rather than drinking a gatorade or monster. So if you're looking for extra energy and/or extra amino's then this is for you.

TASTE: 10/10
Amino Energy is one of the best tasting amino/energy drinks I have tried. I typically drink this while playing basketball or after a run, so I want it to taste good so i don't get sick. I do occasionally take this along with a pre-workout to give me an extra boost. Below are the two flavors i have tried:

Grape: 10 - Tastes just like grape kool-aid. This is by far my go to. Grape is the reason I'm rating this as a 10.Watermelon: 5 - This is a little sweet/tarty at the same time. Can upset my stomach at times, so I will not be buying this flavor again.

MIXABILITY: 9/10
This is extremely easy to mix. I can stir or shake without it clumping up or leaving half the product at the bottom.

EFFECTIVENESS: 9/10
For what I use this product for, it is very effective. While playing basketball, this gives me the extra boost needed when i get tired after a few games. After a run, I am usually drained and after drinking this i feel replenished and ready to go about my day, where before i would be ready to just take a nap. With two little kids, i typically don't have time to take a nap. Sometimes i have taken this with my pre-workout just to give an extra boost without doubling up on my pre and gives me just enough extra boost that I need to keep me focused and moving on my workout.

VALUE: 8/10
I typically only take 1-2 scoops, so a tub will last me quite a while. I also only buy when their is a deal going on, so I only pay around $16. Which is about 1/2 of what some other similar products will cost me.

OVERALL: 7/10
Amino Energy is one of my favorite amino/energy drinks to take. It works for exactly what I need it for, and with the price point and longevity the tub last me, I can not find a better deal.